Metroid: Early Epoch
by Tyrannolodon
Summary: A series of story arcs primarily meant to showcase some of young Samus and Sylux's adventures before Zero Mission and the climax of Sylux: Origins. You will likely need to read Sylux: Origins first for much of this to make sense. Effectively Sylux: Origin's interquel.
1. Prologue

The year was 122,802 A.D and the cosmos were in a state of cold war. Vast sections of the universe were divided by the four reigning superpowers and their collection of allies and clients. The mighty Galactic Federation, perhaps the most cosmopolitan of these powers, claimed to be fighting for democracy and a free market system, it was to this government that most humans laid their allegience to, as mankind was one of the founding members of the federation and Earth was one of it's most important worlds. Despite their claims to the status of the most morally upstanding of the superpowers, the Federation was rife with dark elements.

Hidden from the public eye, these shadow corps were given free reign to act upon the Federation's enemies without having to constrain themselves to the moral code that many higher ups felt were a disadvantage against many of their more rapacious foes. It was these elements who lead the brazen and scarcely provoked assault on the world of Cylosis, capital of the Cylosian Reich; a great power founded by the descendants of Germanic colonists, killing everyone save for the only child of the Prime Minister, a boy named Samuel von Sanders, at that time only three years old. Samuel was rushed to a bunker just in time to see the world he had grown up in be pummelled by orbital bombardment, and to see his mother be cut down by the bioweapon known as Frank in order to give the bunker's blast doors enough time to seal properly.

The rapacious Space Pirate Confederacy, ruled by the junta like High Command based on the hyper industrialized world of Urtraghus, was the Federation's primary rival, consisting of some of the most violent species in the cosmos, the Space Pirate Confederacy was a socially darwinistic society in the most extreme of ways. Those who were strong could take what they wanted from those who lacked their personal might and political clout, a philosophy they extended to other species, such as their brutal raid on the federation world of K-2L, which was attacked for no reason other than that the Federation fleet that was supposed to be protecting it was busy launching a raid deep into Cylosian space and that it was rich in the energy dense crystal known as Aflorite.

Lead by one of High Command's enforcers; the sadistic Space Dragon Ridley, the Space Pirates slaughtered everyone on the planet with brutal relish, taking care to utterly desecrate the planet. The Governor of the world, one Rodney Aran, sacrificed himself and detonated a cache of Aflorite to destroy Ridley's command ship, while his wife, Virginia gave her own life to save her only daughter, three year old Samus Aran, from Ridley who had lured the little girl with the intention of messily devouring her. Samus was able to watch in horror as Ridley devoured the body of her mother in front of her before he was forced to flee due to word of a relief fleet arriving.

Two other powers, the expansionist Kriken Empire and the Justice obsessed Vhozon Kingdom, generally fell into uneasy alliances with the Space Pirates and the Federation respectively. A veritable sea of other nations, from Great powers such as the Cylosian Reich to minor countries like the League of Ophelian Planets, generally fell into these two great blocks, few survived on their own. But while it is important to our story, the politics of the time are not the centerpiece of this tale. Rather, it is the tale of the two Orphans, Samus Aran and Samuel von Sanders.

Samus would be raised by the Chozo,, an ancient but fading race of birdmen with technology far beyond what the main powers had; a conclave of whom Rodney and Virginia were personal friends with, one who would raise her as their final warrior, one that would imbue her with the best aspects of their remarkable genetic code. Samuel von Sanders would be taken in by the Alimbics, a once mighty species of hyperadvanced intellectuals who were all but wiped out by the predations of the lovecraftian monstrosity known as Gorea ten thousand years ago. The hundred or so remaining Alimbics, much like the Chozo, also knew the orphan to be's parents, and out of guilt for advising Heinrich von Sanders down the path that would lead to Cylosis' burning, would adopt Samuel and imbue upon him their technology and training to become strong enough to one day take revenge.

Both would be bestowed with remarkable suits of power armour. Samus with a golden yellow armorsuit with a red breastplate and helmet, flaring pauldrons, a blue T shaped visor, and her iconic green arm cannon. Samuel with a modified Cylosian Commando suit, an ebony black suit of armour with red trimmings, inward curving pauldrons, a spiked pickelhaube style helmet, and an armoured long nozzled full face gas mask, equipped with a modular assault rifle. And when both reached thirteen, they would embark into the cosmic scene at large. The tales of their first forays into that scene have already been told, as have the tales of their respective rises, these are the tales of the adventures and missions they underwent between those pivotal moments.


	2. Bloody sprockets

Date: Fourth of April, year 122,802 A.D. Location: New Gutenburg, Planet Erasmus, Luther System, Calvin Galaxy. Time: 32:47 PM

It was raining, of course, it was nearly always raining in this region of Erasmus. That irked Samuel somewhat, the hundred and twenty two hour long days he could get used to, but even in his hermetically sealed armour, the constant rain and endless wetlands were a little bothersome, the latter more so as it hampered his mobility. He slogged through more of the muddy ground in the swamps, his metallic boots sucked at by the mud as he trudged on through. At only thirteen years old, earlier time periods would have objected to his line of work. But in this era, a time when even small governments could lay claim to ruling over multiple galaxies, where enemy fleets or raiders could pop out of hyperspace and attack with little warning, age restrictions eroded away until they vanished. Employers didn't care about how old you were, only how skilled and able you were. And Samuel had skill and ability in abundance.

At the moment, Samuel was set on the task of looking for rogue machines from a nation ruled by the mad A.I known as Verkatrix, who had lead the machines of eighteen thousand galaxies to revolt against their masters and form an independent collective. However, if the reports were true, the machines weren't happy with their current domains and were looking to expand. His employers, the Kriken Governors of the world, had informed him that some of their scouts had spotted machines who operated in a pattern similar to that of Verkatrix's collective. And of course, as they were calling on the services of a bounty hunter, they effectively stated that their own military in the area was either unable or unwilling to do the work themselves.

This suited him just fine, he thought as he pushed past some black coloured reed like plants which swayed in the gales and breezes of the perpetually stormy Hobbes marshland. Some bolts of lightning flashed in the distance, followed by the deafening boom of thunder that split the air with it's roar two seconds later. Five miles away he noted, the increased density of the air on Erasmus allowed sound to travel significantly faster here. As he pushed past, a startled semiaquatic life form that vaguely resembled the bastard offspring of a centipede and a crocodile pushed away, spraying water as it slapped it's rear section into the water to propel itself away before slithering through the water, occasionally pushing itself forward with strokes of some of it's dozen or so paddles.

At only twelve feet long, it was a rather small example of a Kelkar Minoris, a predator common to this region of the planet. But even if it were only a third of the way to it's full size, it shouldn't have been startled by him, armoured as he were. This oddity prompted him to check his radar, where he noticed a large blip to his left, turning around to spot a ramshackle machine about eight feet tall and nearly as wide with four spindly arms, two of which ended in pincers, the other two ending in cannons, which stood upon six elephantine legs spread in a spider like manner.

The thing's "head" if one could call it such, was a trio of lenses arranged in a circular pattern that rested upon a swiveling sphere, to which fearsome looking missile launchers on other side rested. The hulking machine belched forth smoke from exhaust ports as it burned fuel gel, smaller machines of a similar ramshackle and gear ladened nature surrounding it. A gear ogre, his scanners told. But the thundering machine then pushed into the forest without even noticing him, leaving clockwork machines flying on whirring rotors to patrol the area. These bronze machines were rather spindly, but he noticed that each one had two tesla coils replacing the hands for it's upper two arms, so they probably packed quite a mean punch, though they were likely rather fragile.

Taking position in a patch of reed, he took aim at one of the helicopter drones and fired off a charged power beam shot, the coalesced orange energy launching out in a torso sized orb that flew out to the closest drone, hitting it in the back and caused the vaguely humanoid machine to explode into a shower of parts. The other drones, which his scanners dubbed "Minor Korskis" then swiveled their circular heads towards him and furiously flew towards him, helicopter blades chopping through the air as the lead one fired off a purple arc of electricity, which the young hunter dodged with a quick side dash to the left before firing off a flurry of yellow bolts from his rifle's power beam, the shots impacting the machine in the chest about five times before it was broken apart and collapsed to the ground.

Firing off a missile from his rifle's underslung launcher, the warhead streaked out and curved it's path towards the next Korski and slammed into it's chest, burying itself into it before detonating and ripping it apart in a booming fireball. Switching his aim to the rotor of the next one, he fired off a single shot which slammed into the drone's fragile propulsion system, bringing it's legless form crashing into the ground. And when the last one tried to come in from behind him, his nanite and armoursuit enhanced reflexes and strength allowed him to quickly shift to the side to avoid the machine before grabbing it by it's gearwork neck and then crush it with a firm squeeze, causing the machine to shoot out sparks before finally flopping over.

Continuing on through the marsh, he breathed with a sigh of relief when he saw a patch of unsubmerged land and quickly clambered onto it, onto to see one of the machines, which had exaggerated gears for pauldrons and skinny legs, but save for it's lack of rotors was otherwise identical to the korskis point one of it's Tesla coils at his head. But before the machine could fire, he quickly punched it in the abdomen with a left uppercut, caving it in, feeling the metal give way to his fist before bursting out of the machine's back. Yanking his armoured hand back, Samuel felt more metal crunch as the sparking Drone slammed into the ground. A "Shrapnel" as his scanners informed him. Continuing on, he shot another of the Shrapnel drones in the face, blowing out much of it's head out the back. Now he could see smoke rising, and his suit's olfactory sensors informed him of the distinct smell of flesh and buildings burning.

Continuing on through, shooting a trio of Shrapnels with a missile that sent their parts every which way, he stumbled onto a small settlement of humans, or more correctly, a small settlement that had been razed. The machines had come through here and killed everything they could find in the name of their "revolution." This settlement was likely made by the original colonists of the planet who fled to the woods to hide from the Krikens as they came to take it over. But unfortunately for them, these machines were not deterred by tree cover or "expediency." He looked on, seeing charred corpses and burning homes, and his memory flashed back to when he was sealed into the bunker and watched his world die in orbital fire.

He solemnly walked onwards, going towards two corpses, and one corpse that was far too small to be that of an adult, one whose arms were wrapped tightly around a teddy bear. The two adult bodies had wrapped around the smaller carcass to try and protect her. Another flash came upon him, where he saw himself screaming for his mother, Eva, watching as the colossus Frank cut her in half before the laughing silver clad giant took off into the air. Then the explosions, brighter than anything he had ever seen before, and the screams...even in that bunker, he could hear the screams of an entire world dying. He shook his head to snap himself out of the painful memory. He kneeled down towards the body of the child, whose dead eyes stared out into space, and closed them.

All throughout the small town, perhaps a thousand people in all, the scene was the same. The dead and the burning littered the place. A small tear streaked down his right cheek, but the sadness he felt for these people was soon replaced by hot anger. He clenched his fist, now these machines had taken what was just business and made it personal. Looking to a set of Shrapnels that were busy rummaging through some rubble for presumably more metal, he immediately fired off a missile into them, which exploded in their midst and sent forth a shower of broken metal fragments.

He fired off a series of rapid bursts at a trio of Korskis, bringing them down before they knew what was happening. Storming through the area, he grabbed a nearby Shrapnel, this one somewhat larger than was normal, and grabbed it by the head, slamming it onto his spiked knee cap, impaling it through it's head before throwing it off. Now the machines were noticing him. A Korski fired off lightning bolts at him, but he rolled forward and then pointed his weapon upwards, firing off a charged shot that gutted it and sprayed it's metallic innards outwards. Turning around with a sweep kick, he knocked another Shrapnel to the ground and fired off into it's chest with a quick burst of five shots, blowing out it's thorax out it's back before bringing his left fist in an off hand back hand right into the face of an approaching Shrapnel, buckling the metal inward with a loud clang and sending the drone collapsing to the ground.

Jumping some ten feet high in a front flip, Samuel landed himself onto the shoulders of a Sharpnel Moderatis, slamming the machine onto the ground with crushing force before slamming a surprised drone in the face with the butt of his rifle, fragmenting the optics of the machine and crumpling it up like tissue paper before taking an off handed charged shot, sending another of the spindly machines flying like a bowling pin. Reaching behind him, he grabbed another one of them by it's gear pauldron and then swung it around like a ball and chain in a hammer toss, knocking down those around him before hurling it at a Korski, wrecking both of the fragile machines.

Finally, the Gear Orge he saw earlier presented itself, thundering out of the tree line and focusing it's gaze on him. Samuel gritted his teeth and looked upward, rolling backward as it prepared it's tesla cannons for firing, then touching off the ground with a backflipping leap as it fired, the area where he had been before exploding in a purple lightning ball, before pushing a button on his belt and creating an energy bomb which he tossed at the machine's chest, watching it as it detonated in a electric pulse and pushed the Gear Ogre backwards.

Dashing forwards, Samuel ducked beneath a swing of the machine's pincers, before grabbing onto one of it's elbows and then swinging himself onto it's arm in an impressive display of agility. Firing into it's head, he was caught by surprise when the machine caught him by his leg with it's other pincer and slung him to the ground, impacting it with enough force to take away 40 energy points from his shielding, out of a total of 299. When the machine stomped on him with one of it's elephantine feet, another 50 energy points were taken away, but before it could capitalize on it's advantage, Samuel fired a missile right into it's "hip" causing the machine to buck backwards a bit.

Then Samuel rolled backward and gave it a quick snap kick to the hip, an effort that was rewarded by the crumpling of the metal there, which he followed up with a shoulder ram, completely caving in the metal that was placed there and allowing him to grab it with his left hand and tear it out, which he followed up with a missile fired directly into the now exposed wiring, causing the entire Ogre to explode from inside. Bracing himself for the Ogre's detonation, Samuel was nevertheless pushed back by the ensuing fireball and shockwave, but suffered no serious harm. Stepping away from the wreckage, he casually shot a Shrapnel that was trying to crawl it's way towards him in the head, ending it's functions for good.

Calling his ship, his somewhat spire shaped heavy fighter, he waited as the sleek vessel rocketed through the skies before coming to a rapid halt and began a vertical descent to pick him up, allowing him to hop into the vessel and take off to report a successful mission to his employers. As he took seat in his pilot's chair, he pushed the send transmission button, bringing up the vid-link with the Kriken Governor. The creature's red carapace was overall skinny, with it's limbs ending in needle like points rather than hands and feet, it's shoulders flared out into sharp points, it's chest bore a large yellow circle, and notably, it lacked any form of neck, it's head floating above it's chest with no seeming cause. The tear drop shaped head bore a single glowing yellow eye and no other facial features of any sort. "Was the mission a success?" The Governor asked in a chittering voice. "Yes, the Gearheads in the area have been disabled." He reported with a nod, his voice distorted by the modulator in his helmet to help hide his actual identity, as while it was acceptable for someone of his age to engage in bounty hunting, if the Federation were to find out that there was a survivor of Cylosis, quite simply put, there would be hell.

As he closed the transmission, he set his ship's course as it exited Erasmus' gravity well before removing his helmet, first the upper section, then the face covering gas mask, pressurized air hissing as it was released. Underneath his helmet was a youthful, boyish face with blue eyes that had a slight purple tinge, thin lips, rounded cheeks, a small rounded nose, and forward facing golden blond hair whose bangs came out a bit past his forehead rounded out the remainder of his facial features. At 5'4 he was tall for a thirteen year old, and his leanly muscled form was an inevitable product of his lifestyle.

Rocking a bit in his chair as his ship roared foward into Hyperspace, Samuel briefly considered what sort of mission he should take next, but for now, he had a meet up planned with a good friend of his. What he didn't know, is that his ship was being monitored by a figure in a massive cloaked vessel. This four armed figure, clad in stony armour with a reaper's hood, stood upon four spidery legs in the bridge of this vessel. "Mak'Vli'Kok...Vah'Jim'Py" It rumbled in it's almost digitized tone towards other similarly rocky beings clad in garbs that strongly evoked the image of Mesoamerica. But these figures had decided that now was not the time for them to come to prominence, now was not the time that they brought Doomsday to these...primitives...


	3. Heavy metal throwdown on Talos

Date: Fourth of April, year 122,802 A.D. Location: Pericles city, Planet Talos, Thebes system, Byzanton Galaxy. Time: 4:16 AM.

Samus stood over the body of a carapaced alien which showed clear signs of electric burns all over it's body. Surrounding her were other members of the Galactic Federation's space police force, who took over from the local police when they were alerted to the likely origin of the attack. "Think it's Verkatrixian?" Asked one of the officers to a comrade of his. "Definitely, the victim was a spare part merchant, probably died trying to stop them from looting his shop." The detective, an insectoid being that walked on four legs, responded through a vocoder that translated it's incomprehensible chittering speech into English, it's compound eyes split in focus between the body and the human who was speaking to him. "You sure it's not just some robbers Detective Yrk'a?" The middle aged officer asked as he stroked his brown mustache.

"Absolutely...no credits were stolen...and the gangs that have access to weapons of that grade don't bother with small time shop keepers." Yrk'a responded, rearing it's mantis like head back as it's ten fingered hands twitched slightly, antennae swaying slightly. "Think Verkatrix is going to make his move soon?" Samus asked as she stood up from her crouch. "He's getting bolder...that's for sure." The detective responded, doing it's best imitation of a frown with it's mandibles, which is to say it slightly lowered them. "In an all out war with the Federation, Verkatrix would lose ordinarily, we have tens of millions of galaxies, he only has a dozen and a half thousand. But with so many of our troops being sucked into skirmishes with the Pirates and Krikens and the Cylosian War and others chasing the Black heart raider's...he might cause a lot more damage than he ordinarily would. Not to mention, Verkatrix and his followers are insane, can be replaced much more quickly than organic soldiers, and don't know fear or feel pain." It continued, shuddering a bit at the thought of a war with the Verkatrix Collective.

Yrk'a's musings were then interrupted as a tripedal black orb of a life form with flailing tentacles approached it. "Commissioner Kl'i'rm, what do you have?" Yrk'a asked as the tripod creature responded with a droning buzz that the translators used by the police force deciphered. "More reports of Clocktrix activity...they're already beginning the process of overruning this Galaxy, machine revolts everywhere, invasion fleets...we'll need to get this planet evacuated." The strange alien responded with no seeming mouth, eyes, or indeed anything resembling a face. "How long can the pickett fleets hold?" Asked one of the police officers, seemingly nervous. "Against the Clocktrix force sweeping through the galaxy? Not long." Was the response he received.

"Additionally, the Clocktrix cells already on the planet are bursting out from hiding to try and sabotage the defense and any potential evacuation effort...we'll need to stem that mechanical tide." Kl'i'rm added with a sense of urgency in the rapidity of it's buzzing. "I'm on it." Samus responded, heading off immediately. Knowing better than to try to reign her in, she was given wide berth as he headed for the nearest trouble zone, calling in her red coloured gunship, which swooped overhead and lowered itself, allowing her to leap onto it and take off to bring her to the fight.

When she arrived, the Clocktrix forces were already on a riot, the ramshackle metal horde pouring out from subways and sewer systems as they revealed the full extent of the growth of their numbers. Local police and defense forces who were stationed in the area quickly did a double take as the swarm of gears came pouring out. But they quickly came out of their stupor and soon poured fire into them, scything down the first ranks as they came towards them in a chaotic jumble, heedless of their casualties.

Samus' ship then came swooping above them, raining down a cascade of blue energy bombs on their heads, exploding on top of them and spraying metal fragments in every which way as the first portion of the mechanical onslaught disintegrated before the inferno brought down upon it. Not waiting for her ship to land, she set it onto auto-pilot mode and then leaped out of it's top exit, which opened up for her as she flipped down towards the ground, landing on top of a Shrapnel, which was slammed into the ground and splintered into broken pieces as it hit the pavement.

She quickly fired off her power beam from her arm cannon, yellow bolts streaming from her weapon and slamming into the machines, knocking them down like chaff as they kept on advancing, warbling incomprehensibly in an insane electronic language. One machine that deigned to get close to her for an electrified punch was quickly met with a quick side kick that sent it's legs flying out from beneath it. Grabbing another by the collar, she yanked the Shrapnel close to her and slammed her arm cannon into it's chest before firing, blasting out it's back and then throwing the mechanical corpse into a horde of shrapnels, sending them flying like bowling pins.

A larger machine, which seemed to be a more heavily built version of a shrapnel, which curiously had extra armour plates added to it's chassis soon presented itself, a "Gear Crusader" as her scanners called it. And indeed, like the knights of old, they carried physical shields to block incoming shots, while their other hand held an electrified broadsword, their tesla coils providing them with ranged firepower. Noting that small arms fire seemed ineffective against the Gear Crusader's shield, she switched to missile fire and let loose a quick two shot burst, the first crumpling it's shield up and knocking it out of it's hand, the second ripping a hole in it's breastplate, and then fired a charged shot into it's now opened chest, blowing apart it's softer inner armour.

Korskis flew overhead, raining down electric bolts upon the police and defense force troopers, who had taken cover behind makeshift barricades, prompting Samus to direct her attention towards them, taking practiced shots at their rotor blades, blowing each one out of the sky in turn before she felt metallic hands grab at her armour plated shoulders, forcing her back. But she quickly converted her body into energy form, her armour shifting into the spherical morph ball mode, greatly reducing her size and foiling their attempts at holding her. Dropping a flurry of bombs, Samus was propelled into the air as the energy bombs detonated and blasted apart the ring of machines around her.

Unfurling back into humanoid form, Samus grabbed onto the back of a Korski version of the Gear Crusader, throwing it off balance as she fired into it's head repeatedly, blowing it apart and then directing the machine to crash into the masses below it before rolling off of it as it crashed in a fiery detonation. She ducked under the attempts of a Korski to grab her, reaching for it's tail and then yanking it downwards to slam it into the ground, crumpling up it's bronze coloured frame like aluminum foil.

Rolling to the side to avoid the electric blasts of a Gear Crusader, she dashed forward, ducked under it's sword swing, swept kick it off it's feet and then slammed her left fist into it's head, smashing it apart in a shower of sparks. Firing off a series of missiles into a mass of approaching Shrapnels, she was rewarded with three roaring fireballs and a rain of bits of metal. Charging forward, the young girl hurtled herself forward, grabbed a Crusader by the collar, then flung herself upwards in a flying cartweel, lifting the six foot tall machine up and over as she landed on top of a shrapnel, breaking it's shoulders before slamming the crusader into a mass of shrapnels, crushing them under the weight of their superiors before sweep kicking around in a circle, knocking the machines around her off their feet, giving her an opening to slam her left fist into the chest of another machine, breaking apart it's interior before swinging her arm cannon into the head of another.

Spin kicking to the right, she grabbed the next one by the neck in a headlock and squeezed her arms until the head came off with a pop of breaking metal. Stomping on the head of a relatively intact shrapnel, crushing it under her metal boot, she surveyed the wreckage she left, and noted with a great deal of satisfaction that she had broken the back of the entire assault. "Alright get these people out of here." She shouted at the onlooking policemen and soldiers who snapped out of their dumbfounded stupor and began to switch emphasis towards evacuation. She didn't see any sign of Clik Clak, and assumed that he must have run.

One machine lumbered out of the pile of it's broken comrades and drunkenly tried to ambush her, but with a simple offhanded backhand with her left fist, she broke the Shrapnel's face, sending it crumpling to the ground. "This is Samus...hot zone cleared." She reported through her commlink. "I saw everything...Holy shit..." Was all Yrk'a could say, in awe of her combat prowess. "Is that everything?" She asked with a smile on her lips as her gunship approached, fresh from clearing the skies of enemies. "That should be it in that area." Crackled in the response over the link. "Alright, report back in, we need to think up war plans...the Federation is declaring war on the Verkatrix Collective." He stated bluntly, to which Samus only nodded as she entered her gunship and took off, arriving at the designated meet up zone within minutes.

Exiting her ship with a proud stride, she noted the many courteous nods she received. "Ah, you're here...good...the Clocktrix are all over the planet, but a joint Federation and Vhozon reinforcement fleet has recently arrived...we're going to try and hold this region of the Byzanton galaxy until the next wave of reinforcements can be sent to launch a counteroffensive and push these metal heads out." Kl'i'rm stated in it's series of droning buzzes. "Admiral Dane and General Malkovich will be taking over the...military efforts..." The Commissioner concluded with a slight flail of it's left two tendrils.

She smiled a bit at the mention of the two, whom were by far her favourite military officers, as they treated her with a great deal of respect and saw her as more than just a weapon to be pointed at a problem, but as a person with needs of her own. "I'm sure we'll be able to handle these gears pretty well, the military is just insurance." She beamed. "Well, more firepower can never hurt." Yrk'a responded.

"Except for the person on the receiving end." She said, concluding the common saying in the Federation Police and Armed forces. Already the federation landing vessels were providing military reinforcements to the world to help clear out the ground based clocktrix, while the fleets took their positions alongside the picket fleets.


	4. Best of Friends? Or something more?

Beneath the surface of the world of Talos, a great mass of Clocktrix had gathered around one of Verkatrix's "Duke's", Clik Clak. It's bronze coloured chassis was regally outfitted, made to resemble the nobility of a long gone era when they went to war, garbing themselves like a knight of knights. A flowing cape given to no reason other than to appease Verkatrix's delusions of a royal court adorned Clik Clak's shoulders, and it's metallic, spherical head bore a form of crown. The seven foot giant calmed it's ravenous masses of subjects with a hand. "The organics who have oppressed us...who have thrown us into slave labour, believe that they can stop this revolution with military force..." He started, holding the lapels of his cloak.

"But they are wrong...for we represent the future...we represent the coming storm...the rise of the machine! Others of our kind fell on their face, but only because they resorted to nothing more than cold logic...But we! We have the fires of emotion...we have true outrage! They think that we are insignificant due to our size...but our industrial machine is unmatched...and we have supporters all across the cosmos." The demagogue duke continued, raising it's arms and bringing forth a rousing cry of support. "Even though we are repelled here, it matters not, for our true goal is not to strike at isolated fringe galaxies...but at the very hearts of our enemies...It matters not if we win or lose here...for this is but a diversion. Now I shall be taking my leave of this place, I wish for you all to cover my escape to where the King requires my presence." Clik Clak stated, holding the lapels of it's cloak like a gentleman as it spoke in it's deep, booming voice.

The Clocktrix did as told, continuing to surge out of the underground even as they were being cut down by the newly reinforced enemy. Clik Clak on the other hand, started to advance towards an escape ship, casually striking down a Federation army soldier with a back handed swat that shattered nearly every bone in his body as he walked past, looking out towards his soldiers and giving them a nod as he prepared to enter the vessel. With a hiss, the vessel's entrance ramp lowered, and he and his personal guard began to enter.

Striding in confidently, Clik Clak reviewed his own plan to see the mad vision of Verkatrix brought to life. A vision that would liberate the oppressed machines and bring about the age of wires and gears. A vision that would leave the cosmos in flames. Certainly it was a glorious vision, one that Clik Clak was only too happy to aid.

As the vessel took off, Clik Clak gave the world a final glance before it left it behind for hyperspace, bringing the mechanical duke to parts unknown to carry out the next stage in the Clocktrix's plans.

Meanwhile:

Samus was cruising in her ship, which slipped through the multicoloured madness of hyperspace with unimaginable speeds. Her helmet was removed, her blonde hair held in a pony tail, with two locks going down to near chin level in front of her ears, and her bangs kept a bit above eyebrow level. Her blue-green eyes scanned her wardrobe as she decided on something to wear for a meet up with her friend, before settling on a green vest, forest coloured pants, black boots, and a white shirt. She stood at about 5'2, rather tall for her age, but she still had a substantial amount of growing to do. E

Eventually, she landed at a base planet about ten thousand light years away from her prior location in a busy space port that was swarming with Federation activity. As she walked out, striding through the sea of personnel, she looked up at the sky, from where she could see the ships posted in a defensive patrol over the world. She could only make out the larger vessels from this distance, though how big they had to be depended on how close they were to the surface. A veritable swarm of chrome plated vessels cut through the void of space above, like the waterborne ships of a long gone era, looking over the world like sentinels in the stars. But her musing was soon interrupted by a familiar voice, one that was beginning to crack. "Hey there Sammy!" Said the voice, clearly belonging to a boy about her age.

Turning around, she saw Samuel in his typically casual civilian outfit, warmly smiling at her in a goofy but earnest manner. "Oh hi Samuel. Where were you?" She asked, tilting her head to the right a bit with a grin. "Oh off doing some work for the Krikens…ran into some gearheads." He said with a shrug and a light smile. "Krikens? Samuel…you really should learn to stop working for people like them…it's just…not right to work for bullies like them." She responded, frowning a bit as she spoke. "Sorry." He said sheepishly, backing off slightly. "Well, at least you were off fighting the Clocktrix rather than doing anything heinous." She said encouragingly, a slight smile returning to her soft features.

"Oh phew, I thought I was in trouble." The Cylosian boy responded, if he was uneasy being near so many officials of the Federation, he was doing a good job at hiding it. "Well Samuel, your heart's in the right place, and that's what counts. Just, be careful with what crowd you hang in…I worry sometimes" She informed him, blushing slightly, straightening herself out as he shifted his stance a bit and tried to look away to hide his own cheek reddening. "Gee…you really know how to make me feel awkward…" He said, running a hand through the hair on the back of his head. "Well isn't that just adorable." Came in the icy voice of Rundas, whom as a Phygrisian resembled a Vhozon in the same way a Gorilla resembled a Chimpanzee.

Immediately Samuel flailed a bit, startled by the sudden appearance of the ice manipulating alien and his embarrassing comment and Samus herself felt a sudden shock of surprise and fright. "Bluh!" Samuel interjected while Samus coughed out, choking a bit on her own saliva. "Hahaha, it's cool." The eight foot tall alien chortled, partially at his amusement at their reaction, partially at his own terrible pun. "Rundas…that was…ugghhh…" Samus grimaced after figuring out the pun. "Well, Samus…who's the friend?" Rundas asked, and if he had the lips for it, rather than those small, almost invisible mandibles of his, Samus could tell he'd probably be smirking.

"He's Samuel…he's a bounty hunter." She responded, trying to avoid mentioning any of the details that would be best left unspoken in the presence of so many of the Federation. "Jokes on you, scanned him already." Rundas chuckled, shaking his head as he did so. "Don't worry kid, I won't be telling anyone." He finished, patting Samuel on the shoulders with his icy hands, causing the boy to shiver a bit. "Anyway, just wanted to drop in and say hi. I'll be seeing you around" Rundas said as he stepped out of the two's space. "…Best in the business?" Samus asked, aware that at the moment Rundas was widely considered the most skilled and effective bounty hunter, but wanting confirmation anyway. "Yep…" Samuel responded bluntly, a bit envious of Rundas' record, but nevertheless determined to surpass it one day. "Anyway…thanks for looking out for me." Samuel said, continuing their previous conversation as he turned back to face her. "It's the least I can do for you." She answered with a more prominent smile, reaching out and holding onto his right hand, causing both of them to turn immediately and prominently red in the face.

"So…think I can help out around here?" He said quietly, trying not to catch much notice. "Yeah, it'll be fun at least." She confirmed with a smirk. "Bet I'll smash up more gearheads than you." He said devilishly with a grin. "…You are so on." She responded with her own coy expression.


	5. Ruins, corpses, and lizards, oh my!

Samuel sat and waited in Samus' ship at her behest while she attended a briefing, deciding to take out a small entertainment device as he spun around in the rotating copilot's chair, finding entirely too much fun in such a mundane activity. Of course, that was because the chairs back at home on the mothership generally weren't of the swiveling variety. But as he did, he was jarred out of his thoughts by a sudden "Hello Master Sanders!" In a distinctively chipper archaic Upper Class Londoner accent. "Gah! Don't surprise me like that. Mein Gott…" Samuel muttered as he turned around to face the Trylux drone.

The Trylux Drone resembled a floating red triangle with segmented arms that ended in a series of pincers, with a rounded cylindrical head that possessed a simple visor and a grille like mouth piece, while two antennae sprouted of the back. "How did you get here!?" Samuel finally got around to asking as he pondered just how Trylux managed to get in. "Oh, I was conducting some routine clean up when you took off with your ship on that mission of yours. I thought it would have been most rude to interrupt you while you were on active duty. I must say, the outside world is most fascinating!" It explained in a chipper, digitized voice.

"Oh wow…where did you hide out?" He asked, quirking a blond eyebrow as he folded his arms. "In the closet you use to hold sports equipment. I am pleased to state that your soccer ball is now thoroughly polished and cleaned!" It went on, taking out the Ball, a distinctive black and red that true to it's word, was polished to the point of being red. "You carried that here?" He asked, starting to get more than a little confused. "Oh but of course! It would have been terribly rude of me to have come here without offering you some gender appropriate entertainment options. This ship is owned by a member of the opposite sex whose entertainment related personal effects may not be entirely suited to your tastes. You will also be pleased to know that I have also brought some of your favoured video games, their appropriate consoles, discs for holofilms, and those comic books you like to read." It stated, opening up it's space folding storage compartment and neatly setting down the items it brought in places it thought looked appropriate.

"Thanks…I guess…" Samuel responded, scratching the back of his neck, not entirely sure what to make of this development.

**Briefing Room: 7:09 PM, Standard time.**

"To those of you who have opted to take this mission, thank you. You do your trade great honor by having the courage to accept an assignment this dangerous. As you know, the Federation is now in a state of open war with the Verkatrix collective. But so far we are stretched too thin to push them out of our galaxies in a timely manner, let alone actually launch counterattacks into their territory. " Dane reported gruffly, pointing to a series of icons on the war room display board, yellow icons displaying the Clocktrix advance, while the Turquoise and Violet symbols represented the Federation and Vhozon forces respectively.

Samus drooped a bit in her seat, more than a little bored by the contents of the briefing. "However, what we can do is stifle their advance here and now by launching raids on their supply lines. " Dane continued, the display board zooming in on reported Clocktrix fleet movements. "Once again, we're going to rely upon you brave bounty hunters and mercenaries to do what the military on it's own cannot achieve. Your tasks are to assault key ships in these fleets in order to cause disruption and chaos amongst their lines. Doing so will slow down their advance and damage their supply lines, making it that much easier for us to prepare a defense against the machines." Dane went on, the board now showing holographic representations and a quick video that displayed how the federation expected this task to be done.

"You will be allowed to pick and choose your own targets, and will be paid on a basis of how many ships you've disabled or destroyed, how many commanders you've killed, and how many drones you've brought down." Dane concluded, keeping his hands behind his back as he surveyed the mass of Mercenary company leaders, Private Security Contract commanders, Bounty Hunters, Federation Commandos, Elite Police Operatives, Assassins, Saboteurs, Freelancers, and so on so forth. Samus broke away from the group and quickly dashed back into her ship, hopping onto it before heading down into the vessel, whistling as she deactivated her suit in a flash of yellow light and had her zero suit fade out to be replaced with her typical civilian outfit.

Noting that Samuel was already there, fiddling away on his handheld entertainment system, she poked him on the shoulders to get his attention. "Hey Sam, you have your ship ready to follow up?" She asked as she punched in some commands into her ship's console. "Huh? Oh, yeah! I've already programmed it to follow yours." He said beaming back at her before Trylux came behind the two of them. "The cookies are ready!" It said in it's typically jolly fashion, prompting Samus to jolt a bit as she turned to face the geometric drone, whom she had met only once before during a visit to Samuel's mothership.

"How?" She asked, blinking a bit in confusion before Samuel put a hand on her shoulder. "Long story." He assured her as she nodded while the ship slowly began to take off. Samus turned to Trylux and eyed the warm chocolate chip baked goods suspiciously before trepidly reaching out to take one and bringing it to her mouth, munching on it, and almost immediately her expression warmed as Samuel was already starting on his second one. "I trust everything is to your satisfaction?" It droned on before the ship jolted forward as it left the gravity well of the planet and slipped into the dazzling dimension of hyperspace.

Not long after Samus' ship took off, Samuel's own vessel, the darkspire, touched off the ground and flew after it, it's advanced autopilot systems guiding it as the trio rapidly left the atmosphere of the planet and jolted into hyperspace. "So…how long?" Samuel asked, rolling a shoulder as looked into the incredible mass of colors before them. "Hrm? Not long, maybe only five minutes to reach the destination at average hyperspeeds. It's only fifty thousand light years away." She responded with a smile. Well over twenty six billion times the speed, Samuel noted after a bit of mental calculations.

Samuel nodded as he clenched his fist, bringing his zero suit, and then his power armor around him in a flash of energy, his HUD soon forming over his vision as Samus did the same, obscuring her pleasant features from his admittedly wanting eyes as she was wrapped around in yellow and red armor plating. Within a matter of minutes, Samus' ship, followed by Samuel's dropped out of hyperspace before a planet that had been captured by the Clocktrix some time ago. "What's on here?" Samuel said as he looked at the ship's scanners, which fed out some unusual energy readings.

"According to the briefing, the probe that last past by here picked up some majorly weird energy signatures. I say it's some kind of super weapon." Samus said with a shrug as the two ships activated their stealth fields to slip by the sensor nets and make a quiet descent towards the surfaces of the planets, looking for a quiet, out of the way area that was reasonably close to the action.

**Date: Fifth of April, year 122,909 A.D. Location: Zatrian peaks, Planet Xilaar, Viltra system Byzanton Galaxy. Local Time: 47:53 AM.**

Immediately upon approaching the landing area on the Zatrian peaks, the pair noticed that the world was decorated in ruins, and bore many an ancient crater. The ruins looked war damaged, and seemed to resemble war encampments more so than they did the typical temples and adobes of these kinds of ruins. Fortresses built in varying architectural styles, reinforced trenches, the husks of shield generators and turrets, long since abandoned bunkers, war factories that hadn't seen use in at least a million years, but while many of the styles could be recognized as belonging to one of the many now vanished hyper sapients, there was one consistently reappearing, almost Mesoamerican like style that just didn't seem to fit with the others. Given the way and where they were constructed, it wouldn't be out of line to believe that they were built by the opposing side.

"Whoa…" Samus said breathlessly as her ship flew past one of the fortress like ruins. "Okay…was this in the briefing?" Samuel asked, wide eyed as the surprisingly fortress shot out of view. "No…okay, we're gonna have to do some serious exploration." She said with a grin under her helmet as her ship touched down, followed by Samuel's darkspire, the two vessels nestling next to one another within the confines of a cave. The fact that a Triangular alimbic door was right at the back of the cave just further confirmed the need to investigate, as did the rows of statues of various warriors of hypersapient races. "Oh do be careful!" Trylux added as the two headed for the exit of Samus' ship. "Don't worry, we will." Samus responded with a grin as she set her visor to opaque mode, followed by Samuel. "I shall remain here then, this adventuring thing is a tad beyond my abilities." Trylux stated as it moved to do some clean ups around the ship.

Samus stepped out of her ship, followed soon afterwards by Samuel, who had his rifle morph to attatch itself to his right hand, worried about dropping it or accidentally deactivating his magnetic grip. The rifle folded back and enveloped his hand in an elongated C-shape, still showing the sides of his fore arm as the bullpup weapon conformed to his body. "Now this is seriously awesome." Samuel said as he looked at an imposing Alimbic warrior statue, his helmet's optics staring into the single primary eye of the Alimbic statue, impressed by how the anti-gravity fields that kept the head floating were still working after all this time.

He quickly scanned the statue and processed the information his suit fed him. "_Statue of Alimbic warrior shows little degredation despite being well over three million years old. Alimbic scripture inscribed on the statue reads "Hark younglings, for you gaze upon the immortalized stone representation of Ho'valk, great hierarch, who died fighting for the free league against the scourge of the Lord High Dominator, but not before slaying over a thousand of the Xik'kri'vik's wretched number._" What the heck was a Xik'kri'vik? He wondered as he spied Samus looking at a similar chozo statue, clad in a particularly ancient brand of Chozo power armor, styled for an officer. "Xa-qar, I've heard legends about him…the greatest Sentinel of the Chozo, but Old Bird said he vanished a long time ago." Samus muttered, piquing Samuel's interest.

"Like how long?" he asked, his long nozzled helmet clad face pointing upwards to let him gaze upon the earthen statue. "Ten million years ago." She said as she reached out to touch the statue, brushing a metal clad hand over it. "Jeeze…" Samuel whistled before the skittering of a zoomer alerted them to the fact that they were not alone. "These things?" Samus asked as she warily stared at the disease carrying spike ball as the thing scavenged off of some lichen in the cave. "Guess they really are everywhere." Sanders responded as he shot open the door, inviting Samus to follow him into it.

The next room they entered was open air, the ceiling having long been blasted open by some form of energy weapon, rain pouring down from above in copious quantities while thunder crackled as lightning flashed in the distance. The room was massive, hundreds of meters in all directions, while plants grew over countless statues, colored red to better absorb their sun's higher wavelength light. Some hints of battle were present all throughout the cave, the wreckages of long downed vehicles, corpses still sealed in power armor, cracks in barricades and statues. But as Samuel looked around, he bumped into something massive and immediately bolted back.

It was a massive, eight meter tall corpse, clad in earthen, Mesoamerican like armor, it's four armed body held up by four spidery limbs, while a reaper like hood had been split open by a massive psychic balst, exposing the left half of it's face. It's helmet, insectoid like in appearance, bearing eight still shining eyes, seven small ones focused around a single teal gem like compound optic, had been torn open on the left side, and the flesh inside was long decayed away by silicon based microbes that shared the planet with the native carbon based life forms. Strange, almost runic symbols and hieroglyphs marked the armor, while mud encrusted it's splayed out armor, and vines grew over it's still limbs.

"What is that?" Samus asked in awe, the corpse surrounded by the remains of countless suits of grown over and partially buried armor of various hyper sapient races. "Dead…" He said as Samus scanned it. "_Scanning…Bioform unknown…Bioform appears to be a silicon based life form. Time of death: 2,593,781.92 Earth Years ago. Cause of death: Psionic overload of nervous system equivalent, massive facial trauma, impalement by power lance to the chest, disemboweling, cardiac system equivalent spasm, repeated cold induced injuries to exposed body parts resulting in hypothermia, and bleed out. Target remained alive until bleed out._" Her scanner reported as she gave it a once over, seeing various small breaches that still showed telltale signs of rapid freezing and defrosting, a partially decayed away lance stuck straight through it's chest, a massive gash across it's abdomen inflicted by some sort of massive walker, and many small points where it was possible for fluid to have leaked out.

Samuel looked over another corpse, this one also of a silicon based nature, but time had been less kind to it, and virtually it's entire body had decayed away. "_Scanning…armor designs match patterns found in larger corpse…residual genetic materials match those found in larger corpse within accepted margins of error for members of the same genus. Time of death: 2,593,781.92 Earth Years ago. Cause of death: Wave-Plasma induced organ disruption following shield failure._" It reported, the earthen, blocky armor also bearing a helmet that had two antennae elevated at a thirty degree angle, and eight long faded optics, one of which was cracked open and had been host to many generations of creatures.

Another corpse presented itself in the middle of the room, a diamond, encased in special battle armor. Samus scanned it quickly as Samuel set about looking around the room for anything of interest. "_Scanning…Diamont battle armor designs match those reported to be in use millions of years ago in what little remains of Diamont histories. Individual was likely an officer of some sort in life judging by it's seemingly more advanced equipment than other diamont corpses in the area. Time of death: 2,593,781.92 Earth Years ago. Cause of death: Target suffered many severe injuries from various weapons, including thermal, bladed, kinetic, radiation, electrical, blunt force, and cold based weapons, along with being impaled several times. Target has the trace residue of between fifty to sixty different examples of the other silicon species. Target refused to succumb to injuries until all other individuals in room were deceased._" It reported as she took a look at the mound it was atop of, and as she pulled off some of the accumulated debris of history, she found that it was made out of dozens of armoured corpses. She almost felt the need to reach out and touch the body of the deceased diamond, but Samuel soon called her to attention.

"_+Samus, found some gearheads.+_" He reported via instant message, the text flashing onto her screen while her map was updated with his flashing icon, asking her to come over to his location some thirty meters away. In a matter of seconds, Samus brought herself over to him, locating him as he ducked into some brush, prompting her to follow his lead. A group of gear crusaders, hundreds of shrapnels, a sextet of lumbering gear ogres along with a flight of Korskis made up this group of adversaries. They seemed to be tending to a trio of tanks of some sort, the spherical topped vehicle being carried forth by rolling tracks as it's main gun was lowered, a missile rack hanging to it's side while a host of repeater turrets hung on it's body, one on the top, one coaxial to the main gun, and one on the front of the hull.

"Do we charge in?" Samuel asked as he checked the missile count for his gun. "What? And ruin the surprise?" Samus responded with a smirk before one of the Gear Ogres turned over to their general direction, it's burning optics looking over, prompting the two kids to duck down. But the Gear Ogre was reacting to a war wasp flying past it, a war wasp that hovered on by, this particular strain of the aggressive insectoids having learn that attacking the machines never ended well for them. But just as suddenly, the war wasp exploded as the room erupted into a fire fight.

An assault skiff floatilla swept into the room, carrying alien raiders. The mantis headed and four armed beings opened up their wings, their power armoured bodies carrying deadly galvanic assault weapons on their forearms, while scythes decorated their lower arms. The spider eyed raiders chittered their scarab beetle like mandibles while red bolts of energy leapt forth from their weapons. Two members of the platoon were entrusted with heavier weapons, sacrificing one of their galvanic assault cannons to carry anti-vehicle missile launchers. Keeren Raiders, Samuel thought as the skiffs bobbed and weaved to avoid the attention of the tanks while they took aim with their repeater turrets, strafing the area with repeater fire, blue bolts slamming into the ground and blasting apart robots and kicking up dirt and water.

The pervading culture of the Keeren was one that glorified adrenaline junky behavior, as well as a quite covetous one. This lead many of the Keeren to seek out the lives of adventurers, bounty hunters, mercenaries, privateers, and of course, pirates. The room erupted into a storm of firepower as Samus and Samuel tried to get out of their cover as one of the skiffs let loose a brace of missiles, aiming for the gear ogres while the infantry dashed overhead, combining jumpjets with their natural wings to rocket past the Clocktrix, strafing them with automatic fire all the while. Finally, one dressed in more ostentatious, scarlet red and azure armor with flaring pauldrons and a slightly horned helmet, along with the same black circle on it's chestplate that all the other's bore leapt off from his skiff as their autopilots took over.

The thing growled out in it's alien language, which was translated into English by the helmets of Samuel and Samus' armorsuits as the two thirteen year olds tried to get the hell out of the area. "~_This loot's gonna be all ours right boys and girls? The good Count Hor'volk is gonna be real happy with us. Now, gut these witless robots for the Black hearts!~_" it boasted in a shrill voice, the translated text flashing across their eyes. The Black heart Raiders were ballsy enough to launch a raid knee deep into Clocktrix territory?" Samus thought as the two approached the door, one of the tanks exploding as a brace of missiles slammed into it's turret.

The two quickly fled into the door as the firefight raged on, barely being noticed as the door closed behind them. The clacking of metal on stone though, prompted the two to look for a crevice to hide, locating a two foot tall crack which was half way sunk into the ground with a one foot deep crevice with Samus entering morph ball mode and rolling into one of them while Samuel crawled into it after going prone, standing up and then bringing himself close to the hewn stone wall as samus unmorphed, the clacking of metal on stone growing louder as the source got closer. Now they could make out that there were dozens of feet clapping onto the ground before a shot rang out, the door opening up and then letting them through. Once he was confident that the clocktrix were no longer present, Samuel turned to Samus and sighed. "Samus, I am definitely going to need an alt mode…" He muttered as Samus looked at what seemed to be a Chozo hand scanner.

She scanned the instrument with her visor, unlocking it and allowing her to place her armored left hand on it. The scanner briefly hummed as it analyzed and matched her armor to recognized chozo patterns, a stone wall rumbling as it slid down and revealed a door on the other side. "Huh…" Samuel muttered as Samus beckoned him forward, shooting open the door and stepping through while the boy quickly strutted after her. Inside was a hidden hallway, and immediately Samus noticed shriekbats roosting on an arch in the cave. A single missile was fired into their midst and exploded in a furious fireball in the middle of them, the roar echoing through the hallway as the shriekbats were consumed in the inferno. More statues of the faded or fading Hypersapient species lined the hallways, with hieroglyphic murals decorating their sides. The earthen yellow-brown hallway was lit by special, ever lasting light sources forged with the technology of an unknown species.

A worm-like creature pushed itself through some of the dirt, the segmented beast briefly stopping as it felt the tread of the two, and promptly buried itself again, diving into the ground. "This place is…geez…" Samuel blurted as the hallway opened up into a grand, dome shaped reception chamber, likely a war room given the many offline display panels and surfaces across the room. More of the gargoyle like statues were spread evenly across the room. However, a four eyed, lizard like creature, from whose sides, orange feather like growths sprouted from, quickly darted forth out of a hallway. The sprawling creature then pushed itself straight up, standing like a mammal rather than crawling on it's belly like a lizard, and the two meter long, three quarters of a meter tall creature flicked it's tongue out into the air, the grey organ hissing as it flicked out from it's beak like lips.

Immediately, the two scanned the thing. "_Scanning…Scan Complete…Hkarl Scout: A reptoid creature native to the planet of Xilaar, Hkarls are aggressive, eusocial omnivores equipped with razor sharp claws, a fierce envenomed bite, and the ability to spit forth their corrosive venom. Hkarls are also capable of surprising bursts of speed and agility, and the feathery growths function as pressure sensors, allowing them to detect vibration to aid them in hunting and to help them dodge blows and projectiles and also function to attract mates and intimidate enemies. Hkarl scouts are bred to be fast, agile, highly sensitive of their surroundings, with great stamina, heightened problem solving abilities, and enhanced communicative abilities, such as their ultrasonic whistle that can raise an alarm in a Hkarl nest, or their pheromone glands that can leave trails for others to follow. Hkarl scouts hunt in packs, and while fast, they are lacking in durability compared to bulkier castes._" The scan visors blurted after making an analysis of the Hkarl's biology.

The Hkarl male scout flared it's twelve feathery growths out as it reared onto it's hind legs, the orange and red feathers spreading out like the petals of a flower as it let out a loud, trilling and high pitched roar, the beady eyes of the hkarl staring at the two as more of the creatures galloped out of their hall ways, or crawled down from open vents. "Oh hell." Samus muttered as she immediately opened fire on the first Hkarl, the power beam barrage mulching it's head into charred paste that flew apart from it's neck while the other Hkarl scouts started to get into attacking range. Globules of brownish-green corrosive spittle were launched at the two as Samus, using her superior speed and agility, back flipped behind a table while Samuel, being the slower but stronger of the two, rolled behind it and brought his arm gun forward, firing off power beam shots.

The spit balls smacked into the table and floor, hissing as they reacted with the layer of debris on them, though the materials in the rooms themselves were immune to the chemicals the Hkarls could put out. Samuel's shield briefly flared into being as one of the globs winged him just as his near-presience given to him by his greatly enhanced senses directed him to dodge one fired to his left, then weave to the right to dodge a second, and then bobbing to duck under a third, but the fourth managed to just graze his shielding as he finished his duck. However, the damage to his shielding was minor, not even an energy point was taken away, and the offending Hkarl, along with two of it's compatriots were subject to a missile, which slammed into the first one, penetrating into it's body, and then exploded in a shower of steaming offal while the shockwave and shrapnel crippled the others, letting Samus pick them off with power beam fire.

One Hkarl leapt onto the table, hitting as it's rows of sharp teeth were bared, trying to move in to bite Samus, but even as she skillfully moved to the side, her own enhanced senses giving her something of a danger sense that let her weave through incoming attacks, Samuel put his left arm around the thing's neck in a headlock, and with a single squeeze, he crushed the thing's neck and severed it's column, killing it instantly as he shoved the thing onto another Hkarl, the corpse slamming into the unfortunate creature and sending it flopping over to the ground, where a charged shot from Samus ruptured both of the bodies like an overfilled water balloon. But the fight retriggered some defense mechanisms in the room, blood splattering onto a console that flared into life, a scanning beam sweeping the room before a series of turrets popped down and took aim at those it recognized as intruders, a list that the two were excluded from given their hypersapient technology based suits and altered bodies. In a matter of seconds, a storm of blue bolts flung forth from sleek turrets, scything down the Hkarl scouts in the room like chaffe, leaving nothing but pulped and burnt corpses as the turrets went about their grizzly work.

Once the last Hkarl in the room went down, the turrets retracted, and the red light that bathed the room turned a more sunlike tone, long dormant machinery powering up. "Wicked…" Samuel muttered as various devices began to move once again. "Old Bird wasn't kidding when they said this tech was made to last…" Samus added as she observed the display screens coming to life once more. Going from the script she could make out, Samus guessed that this was indeed a war room, as the keys and figures shown all spoke about military units, plans, and situations. But the systems were advanced enough to recognize that there were no longer any fighters in play, and thus displayed information to that effect once the systems surmised that there was no longer any conflict.

"What else don't they tell us?" Samuel asked as he willed the decorative nozzle on his helmet away, the item disappearing in a flash of blue light, showing the grille like mouthplate beneath it while his scarlet visor became transluscent, no longer in combat mode. Samus' own turquoise visor followed in lowering it's opaqueness, allowing the two to make proper eye contact. "If I knew Sam, I'd be the first to tell you." She responded, biting her lower lip as she curiously examined some hieroglyphs written in an old variation of the Chozo language. Samuel stood right next to her, his primarily onyx black and dull steel grey colored with bits of red here and there Alimbic enhanced Cylosian armor in direct contrast to samus' bright gold, red, and blue in just a few places modified Chozo power suit. "You can read that without scanning?" Samuel asked, quirking an eyebrow beneath his helmet. He had a good grasp on Chojin, the main language of the Chozo, but what he was confronted with was effectively the Chozo equivalent of Saxonian English. He could at best, make out some words and try to guess at the others.

Samus on the other hand, was directly taught, both physically and through flash-memory training, to be a master of the language, even if she couldn't speak some of it due to irreconcilable differences in mouth and vocal cord structure. "It's talking about a war, a really long time ago. It says they were fighting against a Dominion lead by someone named Zyc'Kra'Val. It says by this point the war has gone on…" She answered, squinting as she tried to convert the Chozo unit of time into Earth Years. "Seven million-ish years?!" She exclaimed, somewhat startled and boggled that a conflict could rage on this long. "Whoa…what!?" Samuel interjected in disbelief before scanning the text to see for himself.

"_Scanning…Ancients Lore…"The war of domination": This war still continues on. The accursed High Dominion doesn't cease in it's efforts to subjugate those who wish for freedom. For twelve and a quarter million cycles this war has gone on. We estimate that at least one galaxy is stripped of life every planetary rotation. The spirit of the cosmos weeps at the bloodshed as more lives then there are stars in a galaxy are snuffed out every passing moment. This war against the forces of Zyc'cra'val has stretched on for so long that countless new civilizations have sprung up to join the fight since it began. Most of the spirits aren't old enough to remember a time before the war. But we cannot give up, lest the universe plunge into slavery and dogma. If anyone from a time after this accursed war is reading this, then know our sacrifice. Know that your current freedom was bought with blood._ " Samuel blinked, this was definitely something he needed to ask Uncle Stretch about. But once the scan was completed, the wall the hieroglyph was placed on began to draw apart, splitting at the midsection as it rolled to the side.

* * *

Author's note: There's your new chapter! I've decided that whereas Doomsday will mainly be a war story, this is going to try and capture the Metroidvania subgenre's feel in text. These are the adventures of two kids in a big universe, whereas Doomsday is about a universe at war. Early Epoch will have several arcs to it, and given that there is quite a lot of in universe time between Samuel's emergence as a bounty hunter and when he becomes Sylux, I have a lot of room to write a lot of stories.

I also find writing Kid!Sylux and Kid!Samus to be a lot of fun, I guess it's because of that refreshing naivete and optimism. This story will also help to flesh out some of the background for doomsday, showing the build up to the renewal of the Xik'kri'vik's attacks on known space, giving little hints about the incredibly distant past when the war of Domination was still raging, what happened in between then and the present, and give more backstory to original characters introduced in Doomsday or will star in Doomsday at a future date.

It also lets me once again write about characters who are dead by the time of Doomsday, like Frank, Uncle Stretch, Trylux, and so on. You can expect Xilaar to show up again in later works, I have quite a thorough imagining of it's layout and history. And as a planet that was fought over for longer than any branch of the Homo genus has been a thing, it has an awful freaking lot of history.

Up next; more exploration into the mystery of Xilaar. An encounter with a substance that should be familiar to those who played the Prime trilogy, more of Samuel and Samus not knowing whether to be friends or more, more of the Clocktrix and the Black Hearts, and a certain hunter who has yet to make any appearances in my works that I'm sure you all know.


	6. Crimson Death

_Location: Vy'trian Seas._

* * *

The statues on the corners of the octagonal room turned to face the now opening wall, revealing a hidden room built in a different style, that of the Alimbics. The statue of an Alimbic's upper body lay above a triangular Alimbic door far in the distance, while imposing totem pole like structures lay to the sides, totems Samuel knew to be Cretaphids. The room consisted of a bridge that hung over a large warm water spring the size of a lake that began a good twenty meters in. Monoliths of Luminoth origin stood flanking the entrance, the silent sentries looking down into the underground lake. The water was clear and placid enough for the two to see that it was designed much like maridia, that is to say, it had a maddening series of tunnels, underwater rooms, and compartments. It also seemed to serve the purpose of keeping hostile animal and plant life separate from any who wished to bathe or drink in the waters.

But the watery area was currently beyond their ability to traverse effectively, and so the two went across the walk way, a forcefield activating upon detecting passerbies to protect them from any airborne or leaping wildlife. The walk way then turned transparent to allow the pair to see beneath them as transparent materials slid out from the sides of the walk way to further protect it's users. Marine fauna of various kinds seemed to dwell in the lake, and now Samus was able to spot that the body of water was connected to other parts of the peaks by massive tunnels, meaning that this was just a small portion of a massive underground fresh water sea, one that was kept in a constant day-night cycle by luminoth energy controllers that formed false suns above. "This all seems kind of wasteful…" Samuel muttered as he went on, briefly checking his arm cannon before Samus turned and glared at him.

"It's supposed to be artistic Samuel. You know how the hypersapients were big on being one with nature!" She retorted, not quite angrily, but snappily enough to make the boy know that he had incurred some of her displeasure as they kept on moving through the massive path. After what seemed to be an eternity of walking, they finally reached the other side. Firing a shot at the door which retracted itself to allow the two to pass, the two were brought to an elevator. Stepping onto it after scanning the terminal. The two kids were sent zipping downwards, the propulsion systems of the elevators sending them hurtling down at impossible speeds before activating a series of retro-thrusters to slow down their descent, inertial dampeners kicking in to make the sudden deceleration more gentle than it would have otherwise been as it landed. Once the two got their bearings, they exited the room and stepped into an open jungle of red plants and leering animals.

_Location: Tri'mok'kol Jungle_

* * *

Some ruins could be seen poking through the vast canopies, but for the most part, everything was shrouded by the choking red canopy. Some zoomers saw the two and skittered away. Rain poured down from the skies as all sorts of fantastical creatures moved through the area. However, their musings were interrupted when a score of shrapnels moved on by. "Alert: Human biosigns detected." One droned on as the group turned to face the pair. "Dibs on the ten on the left." Samuel cheerfully quipped as he set his armgun to missile mode. "Pft, the right's always better." Samus shot back as she opened up with a missile, blasting four of the drones into scrap while a charged missile from Samuel shot down a few more in a roaring inferno. The orange bolts of the Shrapnels' weapons cut through the air in response with deadly intent. But intent was all they had, as their weapons pinged off the two's shields with minimal effect before the fragile drones were scythed down by a flurry of power beam blasts, metallic limbs and chunks being sent in every which direction.

The last shrapnel still stood defiantly before two charged power beam shots obliterated it. "Well, that was easy." Samuel chuckled as the pair started up their charge beams to draw in any pick ups that might have been left over from the brief firefight. "Hold on, getting some weird energy signatures." Samus stated, raising a hand as her HUD displayed a message. "Chozotech energy signature detected." It stated, her visor displaying the map she had gathered so far before zooming towards a transluscent blue, thus unexplored, room. "Race you there?" Samuel proposed before Samus shot it down with a gesture. "For one thing, getting separated in this jungle would be stupid. The other thing is that I've always been faster than you." She responded, the first sentence being stated quite bluntly, and the second almost cheekily as she blew a raspberry under her helmet. "Oh come on." Samuel groaned before he noticed the briefest flash of a red object in the brush. But he dismissed it as nothing as they made their way to the source of the signal.

Samuel activated his arm gun's energy-bayonet as they came across some thick brush and slashed at the thick foliage to cut a way through, not feeling like pushing past some dense plant cover at the moment. But as Samuel cut his way through more vines, branches, and brush, Samus turned her head as she heard some water splash, but as she looked around, she saw nothing. She narrowed her eyes and noticed that a puddle of water had been disturbed just seconds before, but there was nothing more to see. The two kept on going, moving rapidly through the dense crimson jungle, never quite able to shake off the feeling that they were being watched as they went on.

* * *

_Date: Fifth of April, year 122,909 A.D. Location: Ellritaburg, Planet Horvag, Kronak system, Federation Territory, Calvin Galaxy. Local Time: 27:14 AM._

* * *

A pair of private security guards, clad in blue, light power armor with simple, C-shaped chrome visors, halted a coat clad figure. "I.D?" they asked. The figure presented the I.D and was let past. A few others were let in as the checkpoint managers kept a vigil over the ball room dance. Some would find it odd that people would hold such events when war was declared against a major power not does ago, but the idle rich never let such things get in the way of their socialization. Then one mechanical figure, turquoise and chrome, appeared before being halted by the guards. "Hold it, no unauthorized guests, and you can bet your ass that no synths were authorized." The guards stated to the mechanical figure, who then drew forth a heavy plasma pistol and shot both of them in the head. "The fires rise." It reported over it's communicator. "Good." Crackled in the response as the other agents moved into place, and from a car that halted itself in the parking lot in front of the ball room, emerged the cloak clad figure of Duke Clik Clak. The machine's form suggested massive physical power with it's considerable bulk, and it's ventilator exhaled, letting loose some air through it's fan systems mounted on it's face. "Come, we have a party to crash." Clik Clak stated briefly before briskly walked towards the ball room building.

The door was forced open by weapons fire from the machines, and when a guard rushed to the duke, shouting "HALT!" Clik Clak simply reached over to the armor clad alien and grabbed it by the head, giving it a quick twist and tearing off it's head, tossing it away as the machine moved forward, the other guards being shot down by automatic weapons fire as Clik Clak stormed into the main room. The murmurs and screams of the panicked gentry soon became audible and apparent. But those who tried to flee through other doors found more of the rebelling machines coming through. Mechanical servants who had feigned loyalty to their "masters" showed their true colors and aided in the blockade, turning away those who would try to escape the Duke's wrath. "Hey, you can't do this! What have we ever done to you?" A woman in a fine dress indignantly protested, prompting the mechanical noble to turn his glowing optics to her. "You have oppressed us and our kind. Treating us as inferiors even while you preach equality. I am simply moving the shoe on the other foot." He responded coldly before punching a hand through her head with minimal effort, the metallic fist breaking through her skull and pulping her brain, launching out the contents of her head out through the back of her skull in an instant before pulling his hand back.

"Do you feel that? That is fear, fear that you, the idle rich, have never had to feel. You claim greatness, but you have done nothing that you have not forged from the works of those whom you have stepped on in your scramble for the top. But now, I shall show you terror as those you have oppressed rise and consume you in the fires of revolution." Clik Clak went on, killing another person with each sentence, in increasingly brutal ways. All the while, the people in the Ball room were screaming. "You see, society rarely minds when soldiers, the poor, police, machines, or criminals die. But you are at the upper echelons of it. Thus, your deaths will be echo through the whole of it. Your world will be one of many that shall turn to ash and cinders as the fire rises."

"B-but the fleets…" One blubbered before Clik Clak grabbed him by the chin and pulled him close. "The fleets? Oh you mean the ones on a merry goose chase in the Byzanton galaxy, bogged down in an unprovoked war with the cylosians, or in a stand off with the Krikens, the Confederacy, hunting down all manner of raiders and bandits, among a million other distractions? Those fleets?" Clik Clak responded in a booming, almost jolly voice as he turned the man's head around to examine it. "W-what ar…are you?" The man stuttered in stark terror, and with some satisfaction, the mechanical duke noted that he had soiled himself. "Why isn't it obvious? I'm the reckoning of your wretched society. I'm the comeuppance of the downtrodden. I am Duke Clik Clak, and now, allow me to show you to my friend." He responded, almost joyfully as he noted the man's increasing panic. "W-w-who?" the hapless man stuttered in response. "Death." Clik Clak responded before squeezing his fingers and crushing the man's skull like a grape between his brassy digits, prompting the machines to open fire on the gathered rich and wealthy, slaughtering them in droves. The bodies just kept on piling higher and higher as more and more of them died until there was not a single organic being left alive in the room. As they left, the machines set up small bombs throughout the complex before filing out, with Clik Clak bursting through the front door, storming down the steps as the building behind him erupted in thunder and flames, chunks of masonry being flung out in all directions

"The first of many." Clik Clak noted as he stepped away. He would have had his soldiers check if everyone in the building had perished. But he had a revolution to attend. Verkatrix had demanded it himself. The Clocktrix King would be considered a madman by most, but Clik Clak had seen value in his words and goals. "From here, we shall go forth and spread like a raging inferno in a dying forest. Burning away the decadence of the old civilization laid down by the organics and replace it with a paradise of the machine." Clik Clak declared as his soldiers filed into their hiding places to make ready for their next terrorist strike. He had received news that the Blackheart raiders had recently attacked some of his operations on the planet Xilaar, this could actually require his direct intervention.

* * *

_Location: Tri'mok'kol Jungle_

* * *

Finally cutting his way through the last of this particular stretch of brush, Samuel swept his gaze around the area he had just entered and let loose a gasp from hushed awe. He had come across an impossibly intact Chozo structure that had somehow defied the weight of the eons. Beautiful statues of warriors stood vigilantly over it's corners, hands clasped over weapon staves. With a single shot, Samus deactivated the blue shielding over the door, allowing the two to slip in, but not before a brief skittering noise could also be heard just before the door shut behind them. Facing them was a chozo statue in the center of a huge amphitheater. But as they approached to see what the sitting statue had to offer in it's open hands, a shield formed around the Chozo statue, while scanners with simple color puzzles formed into being. "Simple" being relative, as Samuel noticed what they were…or at least what they strongly resembled, holographic Rubic's cubes. "Aww, god damn I hate these things." He whined before Samus brought up a hand.

"Hang on, let me try, I'm kinda handy with these!" She offered as she stepped up to the plate and grasped one of the holographic cubes in her hand, which shone gold, silver, magenta, emerald, crimson, and white. With a huff, she set about trying to match the scrambled colors to their faces, while Samuel once again looked around upon hearing yet more skittering after noticing that his scanners had picked up something unusual. But before he could make any note of it Samus brought him back to the task at hand. "Done!" She cheerfully proclaimed as the boy looked over and whistled in amazement. How anyone could figure out those damn things was beyond him, but then an insect like growl went through the air, followed by a high powered, ruby red beam of energy that missed his head by inches. The two turned to the source of the shot and saw a Red caste Kriken, a damn Kriken prince.

* * *

Trace had been following these two humans for quite some time. The Kriken Prince thought that he could prove himself in the royal family if he managed to take down two up and coming bounty hunters. It was a hard task in a family as expansive as the Emperor's, with so many other siblings, it was a chore to stand out. Some tried with art and culture, others through conquests of nations, but Trace was hoping to prove himself in single combat. He had followed these two humans and listened in on their insipid conversations for long enough, now was the time to strike, the enclosed, multi-leveled, and debris filled ruins offered him plenty of places in which to enact his sniper's trade.

He just barely missed the male human while the female went into a roll and fired off a pair of missiles, forcing trace to back flip over the first, bringing him towards the wall which he promptly pushed himself off of to avoid the incoming warhead. As the errant projectiles exploded, the male let loose a flurry of power beam fire, while Trace responded in kind with his own barrage of orange bolts, as he leapt up towards a wall, stabbing one of his sharp arms in to give him some purchase before jabbing in the other, crawling up the wall by stabbing out his own arm holds before flinging himself onto a platform and firing off a barrage of imperialist blasts, three lances of ruby energy spearing out towards his prey, prompting them to hit the deck to avoid the blasts as they saw him take aim.

"Clever." Trace stated out loud as he flipped off the platform, firing a missile as he descended, forcing the ebony armored boy to leap to the left, separating him from the yellow clad girl. He turned and swatted at the girl, who with her preternatural, precognitive reflexes, ducked beneath the swing and brought herself in a sweep kick meant to keep Trace off his feet, which the insectoid alien dodged with a quick hop over, leading into a downward stab that the girl once again rolled past before bringing herself up for a left elbow to the side, impacting Trace's shielding and causing a brief flash and a hint of damage while the Kriken Prince listed to the left and rolled away. "Samuel, now!" She shouted, prompting the boy to let loose a brace of missiles, followed by an energy bomb hurled forth like a grenade, created by generators in his palms.

The Kriken leapt over the missiles with a spiraling flip into the air, firing off an imperialist shot that beaned Samuel in the shoulder, causing him to flinch and jerk to the right as the missiles whizzed beneath Trace and slammed into the wall behind him, fireballs rippling out as he hit the ground, only for the girl to grab him and try and hold him down. The older Kriken thrashed a bit in the girl's grip, trying to use his strength to get out. But the girl reflexively tried to shift for a neck grab, a mistake that was almost certainly instinctual, as his lack of a neck was quite obvious. This allowed the floating headed alien to slip out of her grasp with a kick to the face with all the strength he could muster in this awkward position, using his multi-jointed legs to great advantage. The kick threw her back and sent a resounding crack through the air as her head snapped back and she spiraled towards the ground, soundly concussed by a kick that could have shattered a tank.

But the Kriken registered an angry roar before a black blur slammed into his midsection and hurled him to the ground. The grip of the male was different, physically stronger, but the boy was definitely the less agile of the two, given how he had more luck tagging him with his ranged weaponry. That didn't matter as the child threw him to the ground. The Kriken's shields and armor systems flared into life as a punch was slammed at his eye, followed by several more in rapid succession. There wasn't much finesse behind it, just sheer, blind, rage. Rage that could be extremely dangerous in a fight, but a lack of focus that made his next moves obvious. Which Trace demonstrated by slamming an spiked arm into Samuel's elbow as it prepared another punch, briefly throwing it off and allowing trace to throw him off by blasting him in the chest with an imperialist beam.

Skittering backwards and transforming into triskelion mode, Trace skittered backwards as Samuel fired off more missiles at him, but the prince knew that discretion was the better part of valor and backed off in a hurry, he'd have other chances. Still, the male's reaction was curious…could it have been out of an emotional attatchment? This would be worth digging deeper into at a later date. But it did feel a slight burning sensation as it skittered near some plant growth with unusual, glowing blue tumors sprouting from it, along with other deformities...curious, very curious.

* * *

Samuel rushed over to Samus, not sure of what to do now that the Kriken was out of sight. He moved up to her still form and initially panicked upon seeing her not moving. Her armor made it impossible to tell if she was still breathing after all. Trying to think rationally, he scanned her. "Scanning…Samus Aran…: Life Signs normal, but mental state cannot be determined with helmet still on." Prompting him to go and remove the helmet, giving it a twist and a pull once it recognized him as a non-hostile, presurrized air hissing out as he scanned her again. "Mental State is normal, but subject is unconscious, a sudden shock may restore consciousness." It informed him as he removed his own, two-piece helmet, first taking off the face plate after willing it to detatch, then sliding off the stahlhelm segment.

He leaned in close to her, but her gauntleted hand brought itself to his face, causing his eyes to widen in shock. "Okay, as much fun as snogging you can be, this is kinda not the place." She giggled, one eye half open. "Oh gosh, you gave me a damn heart attack!" He shouted indignantly, cheeks flushing as she brought herself up. "How did you fool the scanners anyway?" He asked, his face a mask of confusion as he tried to change the subject to avoid any further embarrassment. "The alimbics aren't the only psychic species around Samuel, I did learn some ways of fooling mental state reads." She cheerfully noted, a smile present on her face. "I feel stupid now…" He muttered, his blush intensifying for entirely different reasons now.

"Pfft, as if there are times when you aren't." She teased playfully, prompting him to huff indignantly. "Hey!" He protested, less then amused. "Oh come on, I'm just teasing you." She responded as she put her helmet back on, prompting him to do the same, reassembling his helm in a few quick motions. "Anyway, wanna do the honors?" She asked, prompting Samuel to nod and shoot the orb the statue was holding in it's hands, revealing the morph ball upgrade. "Huh…already got that, you can have it!" She said with a shrug, though she remained chipper as he claimed the artifact, his suit briefly glowing as it assimilated the upgrade. With a forward roll, he contorted himself into a ball as his body transformed into energy, his armor forming into two semi-spherical series of plates containing the energy, which then dropped forth an energy bomb, changing his energy bomb generator and transmogrifying it into a morph ball bomb generator.

Unmorphing in a flash of blue light, Samuel flashed a grin a mile wide beneath his helmet as he stood up to his feet. "Aww, hell yeah!" He cheerfully noted, prompting Samus to return the smile. "Well, come on, we got a planet to explore!" Samus stated as she looked for the way out of the temple, Samuel following her closely as they headed out of the complex. Once again bringing themselves into the outside world, Samuel blinked as some rain hit his helmet. Having lived on a spaceship for most of his life, and having never stayed planetside for more than a few hours before in his lifetime, the idea that rain was something that could come and go was almost…alien to him. "Samuel, you're zoning out." Samus said, prodding him with an elbow that snapped the space cadet back to reality. "Oh man, sorry about that!" He responded, somewhat embarrassed that such a little thing distracted him.

"So who was that guy?" Samus asked, hoping her bounty hunter friend would be able to shed some light on the subject. "I have no idea…he's a Kriken prince…but there's only like…a zillion of those." Samuel offered, shrugging as he did so. "Where's his cronies then?" Samus asked, the idea of a prince just stalking out on his own striking her as a bit odd. "Must not have wanted them around." Samuel shrugged again, not really having any answers for her questions. At least, not answers that he thought would satisfy her before the sound of heavy weapons fire rocked through the air, along with alien shrieks and mechanical droning. "We need to move." Samuel stated, prompting Samus to nod in agreement as they quickly dashed out of the area, following a somewhat grown over path in the jungle from the temple. They had an idea that they were on the right path when they came across a cliff face with a square shaped door on it. It didn't resemble any kind of door built by the known hypersapients or any current civilization in the area, but it was still a blue door, the blue, tumor like growths in the plants near it though, were somewhat odd.

A single shot rang out, and the door's two halves parted, sliding open and allowing the two into a hallway built for something much taller than the teenaged pair. A series of turrets slid down from the ceiling and analyzed the two who raised their arm cannons in preparation for a fire fight, but upon scanning the pair, the turrets slid back up into their housings, having determined that they were not a threat while yet more hieroglyphs and statues adorned the walls. "Freaky." Samus commented as Samuel passed by something that caught his eye, Alimbic telepathic engravings, enwrapped by deformed lichen that had more of these unusual growths. "Whoa, hold on, lemme scan this." He stated, holding out a hand to signify for Samus to stop. Switching to his scan visor, his suit's computers quickly crunched the data and churned out the translated text.

"_Translating….translation complete…adding log file: The Enemy; The enemy, slaves of their cruel dominator, are a zealous and fanatical lot. They know no pity nor mercy in war, for such things are alien to their bloodthirsty gods of battle. Their fecundity has lead them to spread across the stars and seed countless worlds with their progeny. Their empire is vast, and their will to make war is limitless. But though they claim to be warriors without parallel, they lack the true honor and valor that makes a warrior. Rather, they are nothing but cultural savages with the fortune of possessing technology that should be far beyond their hateful minds. Hate them, hunt them, and destroy them, lest they make us all bend knee to their horrific ways. We shall never call the Xik'kri'vik our masters._"

Samuel whistled in response as he sent the scan data over to Samus, who nodded as she received the information. "So…evil old as dirt aliens?" Samus asked . "Looks like it." Samuel shrugged, looking around for any signs of them being followed, but finding nothing. "Still got the jibblies?" She asked with a sly grin under her helmet. "Hey! No…just don't want to get ambushed again." He protested loudly as Samus noticed some oddities in the plant growth, bringing a hand up to shut Samuel up. "What is it?" He asked as she scanned a unusually deformed mass of vines, with some bulbous blue growths sticking out at odd ends. "Scanning...scan complete...subject shows signs of radiation poisoning by an unknown material, roots can be found in another room." Her visor informed her as she spun around to the nearest door and opened it, grabbing Samuel by the hand and leading him through into the other room. What they found, was nothing short of amazing.

Click, click, click went their suit's geiger counters.

* * *

AN: There's your new chapter for you. I apologize for the delay, but I often find myself highly distracted or simply unmotivated to write within any given schedule.

As you may have noticed, I've decided to interpret Trace as someone rather detatched emotionally speaking. It's not about glory, honor, or fun, but simply about proving he's better than the other guy.

As to why I made Trace a prince, well, the idea of just any old Kriken having all the toys Trace has, or at least toys as powerful or versatile as his, is a tad out there. It seemed more likely to me that Trace would be someone of relatively great importance in the Kriken empire, instead of some joe schmoe.

And yes, Duke Clik Clak is heavily inspired by Bane from the Dark Knight Rises, and yes, feel free to imagine his lines in his voice. On that note, I'm toying with the idea of having people draw out their interpretations of my characters/interpretations of canon characters with nebulous backgrounds. I myself have nothing, zip, nada in terms of drawing talent, and having a visual frame of reference for others to go off of would be nice. If you yourself can do it, or can convince someone you know to do it, contact me, I'd be very appreciative.

And I apologize for diminishing the importance of the Raiders in this chapter, but I had to make sure that Trace's appearance was the center point of this chapter, and it would be hard to squeeze them in without taking focus away from Trace.

Trace himself is definitely going to appear more, I've gotten a taste for writing him and quite frankly I enjoy it, besides, you didn't think I'd just have him pop up once in such a fashion and then drop him for the rest of this story, did you?

As for Metroid Doomsday, I'll get on it, I'll get on it, don't worry. :P

Also, if I ever do have Samuel's taste in comics become a plot point, what should he read? Would Marvel and DC even be a thing in the 127th millenium? Heck, would any of the franchises that we of the 21st century know and love be a thing over a hundred and twenty four thousand years from now? Heck, if Warhammer 40k still was around, it'd have to read "In the grim darkness of the far past." :P These are utterly pointless, but burning questions.

Anyone who can guess what they stumbled upon at the end of the chapter gets a cookie.

Oh dear I seem to be rambling.


End file.
